Patented in 1868 by Colonel G.H. Money and Mr. M. Walker, this rifle was one of the 10 finalists in the British breechloading rifle trials of 1868. It is a simple falling block system with an internal hammer. In the second set of trials, it proved to be middle of the pack in rapidity of fire (20 shots in 1 minute and 14 seconds) but succumbed badly to exposure testing. The Martini would win those trials, and the Money-Walker system was only used in limited commercial rifle and shotgun manufacture.
Prototype
Pedersen Selfloading Rifle at RIA
When the US military decided to seriously look at replacing the 1903 Springfield with a semiautomatic service rifle, two designers showed themselves to have the potential to design an effective and practical rifle. One was […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Heavy But Effective: Britain’s No4 MkI (T) Sniper Rifle
RIA’s catalog page for this rifle The main British sniper rifle of World War Two, and arguably one of the best looking military sniper rifles of all time, the No4 MkI (T) was something the […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Wait, Go Back! The SMLE MkIII* Wartime Simplification
The British entered World War One with a technically excellent rifle, with lots of bells and whistles. By 1916, the war was taking a previously unimaginable toll on the industrial capacity of the Empire and […]
That’s a delightfully simple system.
A few years back, Ian showed a French double barrel shotgun, with what appeared to have a very similar action to the Money-walker.
Interesting attempt. But against Martini, he did not have a single chance in all nominations.
I suspect that it also stuffed the base of the thumb with this tail…
PS In all except the rate of fire.
Interestingly, it seems to me alone that this tail will not allow to tightly cover the waist at all?
Very nice rifle, I’d love to see some of the sporting versions, especially the doubles they apparently made, but I doubt there are more than a handful left, and probably none in North America
The action lever reminds me a bit of the Westley Richards ‘monkey tail’ paper cartridge breechloader, a direct descendant of which I believe competed against this rifle in the trial